The Water Merchant
by Tsutae Kouken
Summary: Ryoga's cured, Ranma's in shock, Genma's got a daughter who's named after him (almost) and Happosai can't get no ki.....Read and Review! **please?***
1. Ryoga's Thirst

The Water Merchant  
  
Authoress: Tsutae Kouken  
  
~*~  
  
"Why does Saotome have all the luck? Why can't I ever do anything like he does? I   
swear…" Ryoga Hibiki clenched his fist as he walked down the solitary road. He didn't   
know where he was going, and for once, he didn't care. He just wanted to be ahead of   
Ranma Saotome in at least one aspect.   
  
"I swear Saotome…I'll defeat you someday!" Ryoga stopped and looked around for a   
place to rest. He'd been traveling for a while and was thirsty. Putting down his backpack,   
he opened the top and began searching for his canteen.  
  
Finding it, he opened it and prepared to drink, but to his dismay, he was out of water. He   
ran a hand through his thick black hair and took off his black spotted orange bandana and   
wiped his face with it.  
  
"K'so. Now where am I going to find more water?" Ryoga surveyed the empty road. No   
one was in sight, and there was no city ahead and the last one he'd left far behind. All   
that was here was lots of boulders like the one he was resting against and trees.  
  
"Did you say, 'water'?" A voice with a soft feminine quality sounded from above him, in   
one of the tall trees. Ryoga jumped slightly. He'd thought he was all-alone.   
  
Looking up, he could see a figure sitting on one of the branches. He squinted his brown   
eyes but couldn't see anything particularly threatening.  
  
"Who are you? Come out!" Ryoga called, putting down his canteen. He didn't take an   
offensive stance, not sensing anything to be worried about. But he tensed just slightly, all   
the same.  
  
"Sure! Wait a sec, I'll be right down!" That same feminine voice, gentle, yet happy   
sounding, came from his left. He turned in time to see her jump down.  
  
With a series of soft metallic ringing sounds, she landed not five feet away from him. She   
was in a crouching position, and was looking up at him.   
  
Ryoga felt his heart in his throat.   
  
She stood up, giving Ryoga a better look at how she was dressed and what she carried   
with her.  
  
She wore a belt like a sash, from hip to shoulder, which was lined with small metal   
bottles, and there was a small knapsack on her back. Wearing a spaghetti strapped blue   
shirt under an off the shoulder orange tank top, paired with blue jean shorts and brown   
Roman sandals, it showed off her curved body, which reminded him of the female   
Ranma, for a strange reason.  
  
"You said, you wanted water." She said, that soft voice, which reminded him yet of the   
female Ranma again. Yet her voice was calm, flowing, like the water she was talking   
about.  
  
"Y-yes…" Ryoga managed to get out, his canteen almost falling out of his hand. Even if   
she looked like Ranma, she was still pretty.  
  
"Then I can help you." Her face took on a happy look and her blue eyes sparkled as she   
smiled. In a half bow, she leaned forward with her hands clasped behind her back. This   
brought her hair into the sunlight, giving the top of her blonde head a sort of halo. "I'm   
Genmuu S-…" she paused in the beginning of her last name and then shrugged and   
waited for Ryoga to answer.  
  
"You can? I mean, what do you carry?" Ryoga felt somewhat puzzled. This girl didn't   
look as if she carried the water he needed. The knapsack was too small to carry more than   
three canteens in it, and the small bottles looked as if they barely carried two swallows of   
water.  
  
"That is, you don't seem to have much water…and I'm very thirsty." Ryoga said,   
gesturing with his bandana.  
  
"I can give you water to settle your thirst and the thirst in your soul." She smiled again,   
and whipped out her backpack. "Now, what is your name?"  
  
"R-ryoga Hibiki." Ryoga was taken aback. 'The thirst in my soul? What could she   
possibly mean?'  
  
"Now, Ryoga…you wanted water. What are you going to offer me?" She pulled a   
canteen out of her backpack. As she did so, a thin bamboo reed fell out of the backpack.   
  
"Offer you? I don't have much money…" Ryoga gestured with his bandana in his hand at   
his backpack. "I could trade."  
  
"Fine. I'll take that bandana." She pointed at the length of cloth in his hand.   
  
"My bandana? What would you want this for?" Ryoga looked at it and then at her. She   
grinned and swished the canteen, which was definitely full of water.  
  
"I like it." She responded.  
  
"Oh…okay. Fine." He walked closer to her, and handed her the bandana. She took it   
eagerly from his hand, her hand lingering on his for a second. She blushed and tossed him   
the canteen.  
  
Ryoga eagerly caught it and began to drink, making sure not to spill it on his skin.   
  
Genmuu watched him with pleasure and then walked around him, bandana in her hand.   
Ryoga didn't stop drinking, just watched her from the corners of his eyes.  
  
When she came around into his view, her back was to him. He now saw her hair was very   
long, in a braid to her waist. The braid almost caught him off guard, which was more like   
Ranma than anything.  
  
He took the canteen from his mouth and quickly wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Is   
something wrong?" he asked, wondering why she stood so still.   
  
"You. Have. A problem." She turned around and pointed at him, bandana still in her   
hand.  
  
Ryoga almost dropped the canteen he'd bargained for. A growing suspicion that she   
knew of his curse began to come upon him.  
  
"I can fix it." Genmuu picked up her bamboo reed off the ground. Ryoga watched   
carefully as she pulled one of the larger vessels from her belt, the one she wore like a   
sash, off and opened the lid. She dipped the reed in it, holding her finger over the end at   
the top and then pulled it out. A bit of water dripped from the opposite end.   
  
"See? Water, from Juusenkyou." She grinned at his shocked expression. Ryoga began to   
back up, until he touched the boulder behind him.  
  
With a quick upward motion, so quick Ryoga almost couldn't follow it with his eye, she   
lifted the reed to her lips and blew with a quick breath.  
  
Before he could react, Ryoga felt the freezing cold water on his neck. Groaning, he just   
knew he'd been changed into a pig, and this Ranma-like girl had come to laugh at him for   
his curse.  
  
He waited. When the laughter didn't come, he looked up. Eye level with him was   
Genmuu, still golden haired and smiling, but she'd flipped her braid over her shoulder   
and was tying his bandana on the end of it.  
  
He looked at his hands, and saw he was still male. But this was impossible, his mind   
screamed at himself. He looked at her again. She'd just finished tying his bandana on to   
the fastening at the end of her braid. She smiled at it admiringly, and then turned back to   
him.  
  
"You're welcome, Ryoga-sama." She bowed to him again, hands behind her back. She'd   
put her knapsack back on, and looked as if she were ready to leave.  
  
"But…what did you just do?" Ryoga knew he'd been cured, but he didn't know if he was   
dreaming or not. He could still feel the cold shot of water she'd blown onto his neck.   
  
"Spring of drowned boy." Genmuu said simply. Her blue eyes were more serious now.   
"You knew what Juusenkyou was, I could feel it. You also carried the air of one who'd   
fallen into the springs."   
  
"Oh." Ryoga felt strange all of a sudden. Something akin to what he thought to be   
happiness flowed through him. He couldn't say anything more.  
  
"Thanks for the bandana, Ryoga-sama. Maybe I'll see you again." She turned, her bright   
golden braid waving merrily as she walked away from the stunned Ryoga, the bright   
orange of his bandana on the end of her braid waving at him goodbye.  
  
Ryoga stood there in shock. When he finally came to his senses, he could only get out   
two words and then they were soft and barely heard.  
  
"Thank…you…"  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: Bwahahah, lol it's time for Ryoga-chan to go and GLOAT to Ranma over being   
cured…lol. Anyways, I'll be evil and not continue this on Ryoga-sama (cause fang-boys   
are cute) if no one reviews!! ~Tsutae Kouken~  
  



	2. Genmuu Saotome Arrives

The Water Merchant: Part Two  
  
Authoress: Tsutae Kouken  
  
~*~  
  
"Uncute!!!"  
  
"PERVERT!"  
  
*WHAM*  
  
*Bang*  
  
"Tomboy!"  
  
"Dummy!"  
  
*CRASH*  
  
*Splash*  
  
"Ow! HEY, watch it!!" a wet and dripping female Ranma Saotome faced the angry   
Akane Tendo. Her chest heaved heavily from chasing after Ranma and her dark eyes   
were filled with rage.  
  
"You WILL eat my breakfast I worked so hard to cook!!" She swung her mallet at   
Ranma again, yet the nimble redhead was able to avoid the attack even while tying her   
pants to the correct length for her new form.  
  
"NO! I'll die first! And if I eat it…" Ranma made a face and continued. "…I'll die from   
that too!" Ranma jumped out of the way of another attack of Akane's.  
  
"Not so fast, boy." Genma Saotome stopped his son in the doorway. Ranma groaned   
inwardly. Why did she have to go through with this?  
  
"Pop! Let me by, old man!" Ranma stomped and pushed. But the tall man wouldn't   
move.  
  
"No. Son, when you're married to Akane, you'll have to eat her cooking then as well.   
You might just have to get used to it." Genma said with a smile…one that made Ranma   
shudder. "And Kasumi is cooking for the rest of us. Now, go eat!" he pointed past   
Ranma's shoulder towards the kitchen.  
  
A thunderous look came over Ranma's pretty face, and she turned and started to walk   
away. Genma, who was pleased Ranma was listening for once, moved from the doorway.  
  
Akane looked very happy and rushed into the kitchen to bring out her meal.  
  
In that split second, Ranma was out the door and out the dojo before anyone had any time   
to react.  
  
"GET BACK HERE, BOY!" Genma yelled, toppling over a couple chairs in the process   
of chasing his son.  
  
"No way, old man! If I wanna eat today, it looks like I'm fending for myself!" Ranma   
growled and Genma watched the girlish form of his cursed son run away.  
  
~*~  
  
"Koko wa doko da?" Ryoga asked himself for the third time. A man nearby overheard   
him and told him.  
  
"You're in Nerima."  
  
Ryoga felt something within himself stir. He'd found his way. He then grinned.  
  
"Where's the Tendo Dojo?" He asked the man.  
  
"On the other side of town. Believe me, you can't miss it." The man shook his head. "All   
sorts of weird stuff happens there. Why do you want to go there?"  
  
"Because…I'm normal." Ryoga said, with a smile, his fangs not as threatening as usual.  
  
"You're the second young person to ask me where the Tendo Dojo is. And that's just   
today." The man shook his head.  
  
But Ryoga hadn't heard the man's last sentence, he just kept walking, something within   
himself still making him feel as if maybe he'd found happiness. Only something was   
missing. And maybe now that he was a man, he could finally fulfill what might be   
Akane's ideal.  
  
At least now he had a very decided advantage over Ranma. He was cured.  
  
~*~  
  
"That boy needs to learn to show some respect…" Genma grumbled into his bowl of rice.   
He busied himself with eating while he thought about his son, which led to thoughts of   
Nodoka.  
  
'I wonder…no. It's not possible.' Genma continued eating, looking at his wife, sitting   
beside him. The thought had crossed his mind that she might've had another child during   
the first year he'd been gone with Ranma. Several times, he'd thought this, but decided   
not to say anything. She'd never said anything.  
  
There was a sudden ringing of a bell. It was the door.   
  
"I'll get it." Kasumi stood up, yet everyone followed her. No one rang the bell around   
here, they just showed up, so they figured, this must be someone important.  
  
Kasumi slid back the door, and everyone crowded to see who it was.  
  
"Ranma! You dyed your hair blonde?!"   
  
"Where'd you get those clothes!?"  
  
The blonde girl on the step of the dojo looked at them silently and then bowed.  
  
"This is the Tendo Dojo, right?" She asked.  
  
Akane groaned. 'Another fiancée….' She thought, with some chargin, as she glared at   
Genma Saotome.  
  
Genma was thinking furiously, how many more bargains had he made?  
  
Suddenly, Nodoka let out a cry and rushed forward. Gathering the girl into her arms, she   
hugged her tight. The girl hugged back.  
  
"Who is this?" Genma asked, puzzled.  
  
"Yeah, that's the question of the year…" Nibiki grumbled.  
  
Nodoka let go of the girl and then faced everyone, standing behind the blonde, who was   
shorter than she, and then pushed her forward, sending her closer to Genma.  
  
"???" Genma didn't know what to say.  
  
"I'm Genmuu. Genmuu Saotome."  
  
The blonde looked her father in the eyes.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: There's chapter two and I'm soooo glad you people did review, Even if there wasn't   
a lot of them, I still like to get them. And…I haven't got to Ryoga gloating over the fact   
he's cured, but with Ranma having a sister who can cure him…Chaos ensues….~Tsutae~  



	3. No Ki for Happosai

The Water Merchant: Part Three  
  
Authoress: Tsutae Kouken  
  
~*~  
  
Ranma settled comfortably on his high perch, safely a boy again, and with food. Sitting   
high on a pole, near the Market, Ranma looked down on the busy city life.  
  
Munching on a roll, he scanned the crowd. Spotting several people he knew, he was glad   
they didn't look up and spot him. He sure wasn't in the mood for a fight today.  
  
Then he spotted Ryoga among the many people. He watched and waited to see what he   
would do. To Ranma's complete amazement, Ryoga didn't stop once to ask questions.   
Obviously, Ryoga didn't need directions for once.  
  
As soon as Ryoga left the market, Ranma jumped down from his perch and began   
walking after Ryoga, along the fence. Ryoga wasn't in a hurry, which wasn't unusual, but   
he didn't carry his usual depressed air.   
  
Ranma pondered this for a minute before speaking to Ryoga.  
  
"Hey!" Ranma called out, somewhat halted by seeing Ryoga back in Nerima so soon.   
Ryoga stopped and half turned.  
  
"What is it that you want?" Ryoga said, his voice stern, yet he wasn't challenging. Ranma   
didn't feel the tense depressed energy that usually emanated from Ryoga. Ranma stepped   
back a bit, he didn't like this. Ryoga was…calm. Serene, almost, if such a word could be   
used for the strong boy fighter.  
  
"I just wanted…to know…uh…uh…why you were here so soon? I mean, bad sense of   
direction and all…" Ranma blurted, not really having a good excuse except his curiosity.   
And that could get him in trouble. 'Not that I can't handle Ryoga…' Ranma smirked.  
  
"I came to see Akane Tendo. Because…" Ryoga looked on Ranma with pity, knowing he   
still had his curse. It'd been about three weeks now since the golden haired girl had cured   
Ryoga, and he still wasn't all that used to not changing when cold water hit him. But   
instead of feeling that gloating he'd had in mind, he felt a certain sorrow for a fellow   
warrior.   
  
"Because?" Ranma wondered why Ryoga looked so…sad…it was making him nervous.  
  
"…You'll find out." Ryoga turned away from Ranma.  
  
Ranma stood in the middle of the emptying street, looking at Ryoga's back retreating   
from him.   
  
'I wonder what the hell happened to him out there?' Ranma scratched the back of his   
head, when a dousing of water hit him all of a sudden. Two small hands eagerly grabbed   
at the now female Ranma's chest.  
  
"PERVERT!!" Ranma lashed out and tired to catch the little imp with the sack on his   
back that was full of bras and panties he'd been collecting. But he managed to slip out of   
her fingers. He glomped her chest again, giggling like a madman as he fed on her ki   
energy.  
  
Ranma felt a red heat coming to her face as she began chasing Happosai down the street,   
in the same direction Ryoga had taken.  
  
"YOU DIRTY OLD MAN!"   
  
Ryoga turned at the sound of Ranma's voice, now female. He saw Happosai heading for   
him like an arrow from a tightly drawn bow. Ryoga remained passive.  
  
"What a haul, what a haul!!" Happosai gloated exultantly as he hopped down the street,   
looking back at Onna Ranma chasing him.  
  
He didn't see Ryoga.  
  
Ranma watched as Happosai drew nearer to Ryoga, who looked to be waiting for the   
little man. Ranma didn't know what Ryoga was about to do, but whatever it was,   
Happosai wasn't watching for it.  
  
"What a ha-!! EH!!"   
  
*BAM*  
  
"Got you, old man." Ryoga now held Happosai in the air, by the collar of his shirt. A   
sack-full of bras and panties now lay all over the street.  
  
"What!?" Happosai started to turn red. He was angry. Ryoga looked at him calmly.  
  
"Can I send you on your way, old man?" Ryoga asked politely.  
  
"Yes you can, m'boy, just let me get my things…" Happosai said happily, thinking he   
was getting his things back.  
  
"No, I meant…NOW!!!" With a mighty kick, Ryoga launched Happosai into the air, in   
the same direction he had been heading: towards the Tendo Dojo.  
  
"You idiot!" Ranma yelled at Ryoga when she reached him. "That was the wrong way!"   
  
"What do you mean?" Ryoga asked, innocently.  
  
"I mean, that's the way to the Tendo Dojo! He'll be steaming when I get back!!"   
Ranma's pretty face was flushed. "I don't need that lecher sucking my ki!"  
  
"I'm sorry! But you don't have to call me an idiot!" Ryoga wasn't really in the mood for   
arguing with Ranma, female or otherwise. He just wanted to see Akane. "I just wanted to   
see Akane and get rid of that pest."  
  
"But you launched him practically to Akane!!" Ranma yelled full in his face and then   
turned to stomp away. "You're an idiot to think Akane would like someone like that!"  
  
"Do you think I'm an idiot to think she'll like me if I'm cured?"   
  
Ranma stopped. The quiet question, put like that, had a bombshell effect.  
  
"CURED!?" Ranma turned, her small red braid swishing through the air as she did so.   
"You're cured!?"   
  
"Yes." Ryoga felt a small smile coming to his face remembering how it had happened.  
  
"WHY YOU!!!!!" Ranma pounced on Ryoga, holding him by the front of his shirt.   
Ryoga didn't react or back away. He looked down on Ranma calmly.  
  
Reaching behind her, she grabbed for something. That something just HAPPENED to be   
a bucket of cold water. Hauling it around, she dumped it on Ryoga's head.  
  
"See-!!!!" Ranma had started to taunt, but all she could see, instead of a little black pig at   
her feet, was a dripping wet Ryoga staring at her.  
  
Ranma blacked out. It was just too much.  
  
Ryoga looked at Ranma pityingly and then headed for the Tendo Dojo.  
  
Dr. Tofu found Ranma later and took her to the clinic for the treatment of severe shock.  
  
~*~  
  
"When will Onii-san get back, Papa-san?" Genmuu asked her father, looking out the   
window. Genma was beside her, looking down on his daughter. His brow furrowed in   
thought.  
  
"I don't know, Genmuu." He looked puzzled and then laid a hand on her shoulder. The   
two were alone in one of the front rooms of the Tendo Dojo.  
  
"Genmuu, can you prove you're my daughter? You're blonde, unlike myself or your   
mother." He asked, saying what was weighing heavily on his heart. He was wondering   
whether or not his wife had been honest to him or this girl was lying to the both of them.  
  
"Papa-san, I can't explain how I got to be blonde until Onii-san gets here. But this will   
tell you of my training and the years I was gone from Mama-san." Genmuu reached into   
her knapsack, which held her belt now, and pulled out a faded piece of paper.  
  
She held it out to her father.  
  
He gulped, and he had a sinking feeling he knew what it was.  
  
"This…is…" He reached for it.  
  
"The map you left behind, the Japanese translation of the Chinese route…" Genmuu   
finished the sentence for him. She had a smile on her face.   
  
Genma looked somewhat at a loss for words. Then he got angry with himself. "If only I'd   
have not left this behind…I'd not be in the state I am today…"  
  
"You're a Juusenkyou victim, Papa-san." Genmuu said, matter-of-factly.  
  
"Huh?" Genma stared at his youngest child.   
  
"I should know, Papa-san. In seven years, I completed that route you'd mapped out. I   
learned of yours and Onii-san's exploits and had many hard battles to settle your old   
scores. Yet my reward was great, Papa-san. I am now like you and Onii-san!" She   
grinned up at him.  
  
"You…went to Juusenkyou?" Her father looked at her warily. Then he got an idea.   
Pulling a bucket of water from nowhere, he poured it quickly on his daughter. Genmuu   
had suspected this was going to come, and didn't flinch when her father poured it over   
her.  
  
"Nothing?!" Her father yelped. Genma was surprised that his namesake had gone to   
Juusenkyou without getting cursed. He looked at her warily again.  
  
"Papa-san, you never knew that the Juusenkyou Guide was a master, did you?" Genmuu   
asked quietly.   
  
"A…a master? A master of what?" Genma looked down at the map in his hands. Then he   
saw some of his notes. He realized, in his and Ranma's flight from the springs, they'd   
missed the most important part of that trip.  
  
To learn the art of Juusenkyou Freestyle. A sacred style of martial arts that would have   
been beneficial to the Anything Goes Style of martial arts.  
  
"A master…of Juusenkyou Freestyle?" Genma managed to get out weakly.   
  
"Yes, Papa-san. I was taught under him." Genmuu looked out the window again and   
sighed. Genma noticed something akin to a depressive state came over Genmuu.  
  
"Is something wrong, my child? Is that how you became blonde?"   
  
"Yes, Papa-san." She sighed again. "Every time I use the Freestyle method, my hair gets   
lighter and my eyes do too. I'll look like an old lady, with white hair and eyes." Genmuu   
buried her face in her hands.  
  
Genma didn't know what to say, except he felt a real feeling of pride for his daughter.   
  
He leaned over and said softly, "I'm proud of you, Muu-esu." Then he tiptoed away.  
  
Genmuu remained at the window, awaiting the return of her brother, when Akane came   
in.  
  
"Genmuu-san?" Akane said timidly, not knowing what to think of her fiancée's sister.  
  
"Yes, Akane-sama?" Genmuu turned and bowed.  
  
"Would you like to take your knapsack up to my room? I've been told that is where you   
will be staying." Akane said, smiling at the girl. But she was afraid Genmuu would be   
just like her brother…half and half.  
  
"Thank you, Akane-sama. I would like tha-"  
  
Genmuu was cut short in her sentence, when Happosai came bounding into the room.  
  
"Girls girls!" Happosai giggled when he saw Akane and immediately glomped her.   
  
Akane quickly threw him to the floor and called to Genmuu, "Keep him away, he sucks   
on your ki!"   
  
"My ki?" Genmuu said passively. Happosai detected the voice and turned. He began   
drooling.  
  
"Oh my sweetie, why don't you come to Happosai-kun?" He prepared to glomp her very   
liberally endowed chest.  
  
"I don't like this." Genmuu stood up, looking down on the little man. Akane then noticed   
the spotted bandana tied around the end of Genmuu's braid.  
  
"Oh come to poppa!" Happosai jumped directly at her chest with an insane speed and   
need for female ki.  
  
He found himself hugging her arm. And getting no ki.  
  
"Genmuu?!" Akane asked, because Genmuu's eyes were dilated and she looked tired.   
  
"I'll get you my pretty!!" Happosai tried to quickly move to Genmuu's chest, but this   
time, he was underneath her foot, very Saotome-style indeed.  
  
"No, not this time." And then Genmuu's battle aura began to grow, showing in a golden   
light surrounding her body.  
  
"But she has no ki!!" Happosai wailed, because he found out that a girl, who had kept her   
ki energy away from him, had tricked him, a master. And even now, her strange ki level   
was rising, and he couldn't tap into it.  
  
Akane's eyes just got bigger as the glow got brighter.  
  
"Why do you do it, Happosai-sama?"  
  
Happosai gasped. What kind of question was that?  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: I'm having fun. I hope you people are too, I really like where this is going, thanks   
for all your support I need more reviews! Lol, Happosai feeds on ki, I feed on reviews,   
*laughs* ~Tsutae~  



End file.
